Obituary of Margaret Audrey Cropper

April 4, 1929 – Edmonton, Alberta

August 19, 2021 – Claresholm, Alberta

Audrey Cropper of Calgary, AB, passed away peacefully on Thursday, August 19, 2021 at the age of 92 years.

Audrey was the matriarch of the Cropper family and a force with which to be reckoned. She was a strong, intelligent and independent woman.

In September 1932, at the tender age of three, she left Canada and voyaged to England with her mother and older sister. Her mother died just three months later, and she was left in the care of her grandmother, Sophia Fitton. During the war, she was evacuated to Aberystwyth, Wales, with her sister Jean, learning to speak Welsh and experiencing a proper family life. She lived and raised her own family in Lancashire, England until September 1978 when she emigrated “home” to Canada.

She arrived in Calgary with her two daughters, Gillian and Rachel, and found work as a secretary shortly thereafter. When she retired at the age of 56, she began to travel across Canada and the United States, both alone and with family and friends. She spent many months over the years in Arizona with her son and daughter-in-law, and at the age of 88, showed her endurance and stamina by climbing the stairs to view Native American ruins at Walnut Canyon in the Grand Canyon.

Audrey was very talented and resourceful, and would try her hand at just about anything including gardening, photography, knitting, home decorating, furniture reupholstery, and even laying concrete pavers for her driveway. A talented seamstress, she made many of her children’s clothes in their younger years when times were difficult, and was known to knit and sew doll clothes for Christmas presents.

She was an avid reader and could always be found with a book by her side, three or four nearby, and a pile in another room. Her regular routine would find her scouring the local library, looking for an adventure she had not yet encountered.

Audrey was resilient and would challenge a person thirty years her younger. Not even a fractured hip bone or dislocated shoulder could keep her down.  In the last weeks of her life she was still managing, and insisting, on going up and down the stairs. Her biggest joy in life was spending time with her grandchildren and great grandchildren.

She will be missed by so very many.

Audrey is survived by her five children, Janet Green (Parker Kaye) of Stavely, AB, John Philip Cropper (Linda Drew) of Willcox, AZ, USA, Andrew Stephen Cropper of Liverpool, Lancashire, EN, Gillian Cropper (Art) of High River, AB, Rachel Bell (Martin) of Calgary, AB; her eight grandchildren, Simon Green (Fiona) of Manchester, EN, Paul Green (Mikayla Connolly), Marissa Bell (Guy Grenier), Jennifer Bell (Kristopher), Kaitlyn Bell, all of Calgary, AB; Joseph Cropper, Mark Cropper, Luke Cropper, all of Liverpool , EN; her eleven great-grandchildren, Ciara Green , Thomas Green, both of Manchester, EN, Amy Dean, Roan Dean, Brooklyn Green, Ekko Green, Everett Hunter, Blakely Simpson, Jaylon, Kashius, Avereigh Connelly Green, all of Calgary, AB; and one great-great-grandchild Lily Green of Manchester, EN.

Audrey is also survived by her brother Eric George Coward of Nanaimo, BC; sister Jean Frances Sutherland Wake, Burton Pidsea, Hull, EN; nieces Vivien Feetham, Donna Storrie; nephews Geoffrey Wake, Richard (Eric) Wake, Geoffrey Coward; and friends Jim Birch, David Hasdell, and Pat Wizniak

Audrey was predeceased by husband Eric Stanley Cropper; mother Amy Sutherland Fitton Coward and father Edward Franklyn Coward; brother Geoffrey Fitton Coward; sister-in-law Maurine Coward; and  friends Sylvia Woolner, Jill Hasdell, Larry Wizniak, Bodil Poynton, and Lena Steele.

If friends so desire, memorial tributes may be made directly to the Alberta Children’s Hospital Foundation, 28 Oki Drive NW, Calgary, AB  T3B 6A8, Telephone: (403) 955.8818. www.childrenshospital.ab.ca

In living memory of Audrey Cropper, a tree will be planted in the Ann & Sandy Cross Conservation Area by McINNIS & HOLLOWAY FUNERAL HOMES, Fish Creek, 14441 Bannister Road SE, Calgary, Ab t2x 3j3, Telephone: 403-256-9575.